Retirement plans and superannuation

Around 600,000 people aged 45 or over, who were employed when surveyed in 2007, said they had no intention of retiring at some stage.

The majority, 3.3 million people, said they intended to retire at some stage, and mostly over the next 20 years, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The new report looks at retirement, work patterns, income and superannuation of Australian workers and retired workers.

Interestingly, financial security was the main factor that people intending to retire most commonly expected would influence their final decision about when to retire (40%).

In contrast, of the 1.9 million people aged 45 or over, who were already retired, but had worked at some point in the 20 years prior to interview, the most commonly cited main reason for retiring had been personal health or physical abilities (32%).

A common decision is shifting to part time work before retirement; this is the transition plan for 1.1 million people currently in full time employment.

The report shows the superannuation possessed by people of different age groups.

A higher proportion of people aged 25 to 54 years had superannuation coverage (87%), than people aged 55 to 64 years (75%), or people aged 65 and over (29%).

Just over half of people aged 65-69 years had no coverage.

Most men and women aged 70 years have no super (69% and 87% respectively).